Prank to Love a Weasley
by ecstatictheatress
Summary: Harry discovers he's not so alone and then the solution to his loneliness falls for a Weasley. OC-Fred - no mary-sue. based loosely yet specifically on book five. CHAPTER SIX UP! 12-29-03
1. Not So Alone

**wheee chapter one in my first fic on fanfiction.net. sorta fun really. Note somewhere down there is a direct copy from JKR's HP and the OotP.oh yeah! By the way, I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does.I just wish I did.  
  
-Not So Alone-  
  
The ceiling of the great hall was storming as Euan Abercrombie slid off the stool after Professor McGonagall lifted the Sorting Hat from his head. Moments later, a pale and shaking girl slowly made her way into the Great Hall. She had two long braids of dark auburn hair and electric blue eyes which greatly contrasted with her currently red nose. She wore no robes, but muggle clothing: blue jeans and a scarlet red tee-shirt. She was soaked from head to toe from the rain outdoors. From her pocket she pulled a wet handkerchief and wiped her nose before looking around the hall. Seeing Professor McGonagall she pardoned herself through the crowd of first years where her short height was quickly evident.  
  
"Excuse me, ma'am but, oh one moment ple-ple-ple" she sneezed into her handkerchief. "Bless me, much better. Ma'am, could you please direct me to which table I should sit at?"  
  
The applause for poor little Euan had died as the students stared at this girl in confusion. Professor McGonagall motioned to the stool in front of her,  
  
"You'll have to be seated here first, Ms. Potter, I presume." The girl nodded and hesitantly walked to the stool and sat down. Professor McGonagall dropped the sorting hat onto her head.  
  
"Another Potter, eh?" She jumped as she heard the voice of the hat resonate in her ears. "Let's see here, intelligent enough, very diligent. Hm, yes. Much like your parents. Very eager, oh yes, you do want to win something here. Respect, perhaps? You hold so many secrets, brave as well. You've been through so much, girl. Where to put you? Well, it better be, GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
the hat shouted to the entire hall. The Professors clapped politely and the Gryffindor table began to clap after a moment. Then rest of the hall joined in as well, but all were very confused.  
  
Ms. Potter walked to the Gryffindor table and looked for a seat. Best friends Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil turned slightly, looking away from her; the second years looked at her as if she was a wet rat; Hermione Granger, on another hand, felt an injustice and stood up to wave Ms. Potter over. Ms. Potter saw Hermione's hand in the air and, slightly relieved, rushed over to sit next to her. Ms. Potter sat between Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley with Ron Weasley sitting across from her, and Harry Potter diagonal of her. Harry was quite surprised and slightly confused as to how her name could be Potter as well. As far as he knew, he had no other relatives.  
  
After she sat down, Hermione quietly introduced herself,  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger," she stuck out her hand, "you are?"  
  
"Roxanne Potter," she said quietly back, shaking Hermione's hand firmly.  
  
"Potter?" Ron mouthed to Harry. He shrugged and looked back to Dumbledore, who had begun to speak again,  
  
"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, stretching his hands wide and a beaming smile on his lips. All of the whispering silenced as he spoke, Roxanne sniffled again, "welcome! To our old hands -- welcome back! There is a time for speech making, and this is not it. Tuck in!"  
  
And as it always did, bountiful amounts of food magically appeared on the table and everyone began to fill their plates. Roxanne began to eat as well, a little surprised by the appearance of the food, but nevertheless hungry. After a few moments filled only with the sounds of clanging silverware, Roxanne began to stare at Harry.  
  
"Is that you, Harry?" she asked, squinting at him. Pausing in mid-bite, Harry nodded. Roxanne gave a wide smile, her face lighting up. "It's been absolutely ages since I've seen you!" She jumped up and ran around to where Harry sat and gave him a clinging hug. Harry looked at her, as did the rest of the table, with a very confused expression. Trying to keep a distance between himself and this odd girl, he patted her back. It seemed as everyone was giving her looks at every given opportunity. Could it be possible that the orphaned Harry Potter had magical relations that were not yet dead? Roxanne looked at the confused faces surrounding her, particularly Harry's. "I'm your father's cousin's daughter. Harry, we're second cousins!"  
  
A little firework exploded in Harry's stomach. He wasn't as alone as he thought. Now knowing who she was he hugged her back, ignoring the fact that she was still soaked to the bone. They released the embrace and Roxanne sat herself between Harry and Ron, reaching over the table to grab her plate and move it to her. Ginny smiled,  
  
"Well isn't that nice Harry? You have family."  
  
"It's just me." Roxanne interrupted, her happy disposition disappearing as she looked down at her plate. "My father passed away two days ago.He worked for the Ministry and Mr. Weasley suggested for me to come here ages ago. I'd be safe with Dumbledore around."  
  
Hermione raised an eyebrow to this but comforted Roxanne by patting her hand that rested on the table. Questions would be best answered later.  
  
"And I'd get to be with Harry. And you Weasley's too." Roxanne looked up at Harry and gave a weak smile.  
  
"Pardon?" Ginny spoke again at the mention of her last name  
  
"Your dad is my guardian." Roxanne spoke, smiling. Ron was confused,  
  
"What do you mean? We have another sister?" Ginny's eyes lit up,  
  
"I have a sister!?"  
  
"Well, yes, sort of." Roxanne smiled, "I'm sure you all have a guardian too, like, if your parents were to die then you would have another adult or family to go and live with. Like Harry went to live with those muggles, even though he was supposed to go with Sir-"  
  
Ron covered her mouth,  
  
"Seeeriously, Roxanne, it's Snuffles not seriously."  
  
Ron winked at her one too many times for his cover up to be very believable if anyone had been listening in. Roxanne nodded her head with raised eyebrows and Ron removed his hand. Hermione leaned in across the table,  
  
"You know about Snuffles?" Roxanne nodded,  
  
"And Moony and Prongs and" she made a face, "Wormtail as well."  
  
"And how they tie in with, well, you know, him."  
  
Roxanne whispered to Hermione,  
  
"Voldemort?" Hermione nodded. Roxanne nodded back, "yes, I know all about that."  
  
Hermione was stunned and Roxanne returned to her pumpkin juice and continued on with conversation as normal,  
  
"The Burrow is the most curious place I think I've ever been in."  
  
**like it? Hate it? Let me know! This is the first fanfic I've written since..dear lord, six years ago maybe? And that one really really sucked.so..yeah! let me know! I'll love you for it! The more reviews the more inspiration and confidence I'll have in myself to write! Wheee! 


	2. The Same Smile

**Harry Potter = Not Mine = Please don't sue.  
  
-The Same Smile-  
  
By the time they had all finished eating, the rain had cleared and stars could be seen sparkling on the ceiling of the Great Hall. All of the students left the Great Hall and made their way to their dormitories. Roxanne was fascinated by every inch of the castle and Hermione told her as much as she could say between Roxanne's comments. Although Roxanne wasn't particularly knowledgeable about Hogwarts, she talked quite a lot. In a moment of silence, Hermione asked two questions that had been sitting on her forehead,  
  
"What year are you, Roxanne?"  
  
"Fifth, same as Harry. Even though I'm about four months older than he is and-"  
  
Hermione cut her off with her second question while looking at Roxanne's attire,  
  
"Are you a muggle?"  
  
Roxanne shook her head quickly,  
  
"Oh no. Not in the least. My entire family is all pure-blood. Uncle James was the first one to marry mixed blood. I don't mind though. Father tried to press stupid old traditions like that onto the entire family. He talked a lot about it to Mr. Weasly, I remember. Mr. Weasly didn't seem to care nearly as much as Father. Different strokes I suppose. But I liked Lily, from what I know of her and what I can remember. She and James made a wonderful match, I think. But before the majority of the others in my family were.well, killed, they very much protested their relationship and tried to break up all connections with you, Harry. They acted as if you were a mistake but I never thought that. I saw pictures about you and read about you and heard stories about you and your parents. I've always wanted to meet you when I could be old enough and I'm so happy I finally can. And it's almost as if Father's death was a blessing in disguise!"  
  
she smiled. Ron stared at her in astonishment with a dropped jaw,  
  
"Bloody Hell! Do you ever breathe?"  
  
Roxanne smiled and laughed a bit while nodding her head. She laughed so hard that after a moment of giggles she lost her breath again. After pausing to gasp for air, she and the group of people had made it to the moving staircases and houses began to split up. Realizing it was her new duty to be a leader for the lost and confused first years, Hermione walked to the front of the Gryffindors and pulled Ron with her.  
  
"Ron, we're supposed to show the first years where to go!"  
  
"Oh yeah," said Ron, who had obviously forgotten. "Hey - hey you lot! Midgets!"  
  
"Ron!"  
  
"Well, they are, they're titchy."  
  
"I know, but you can't call them midgets.First years!" Hermione called commandingly along the table. "This way, please!" Harry watched his two best friends make their way to the front of the crowd, frowning. His brooding was short-lived, though, as Roxanne hooked arms with him.  
  
"This place is absolutely incredible, don't you think so, Harry?" she said, hopping up and down a little. True, Hogwarts was a wonder, what with its enchanted ceilings and wandering ghosts. But after returning to it year after year, the amazement of it seems to die down for everyone, including Harry who longed to return to this world summer after summer. She looked at Harry and smiled widely. He couldn't help but smile back - they shared the same smile, James' smile.  
  
"I think you'll like it here Roxanne."  
  
"You sound like my father; call me Rox, or Roxy. Much less formal."  
  
"Alright then, Rox..um," he debated the phrasing of what he was about to say in his head, "I'm glad..um, that you're here and...not dead."  
  
"I'm so glad you think so! It would be awful if you hated me. Hey what's that!" she exclaimed, unhooking arms with Harry. She started to run to a picture near the Weasley twins, and happened to step on the trick step. Her foot sunk through automatically. Her eyes widened and she screamed and then began to laugh.  
  
"Are you alright?" George asked. Roxanne tried to speak in between giggles,  
  
"It's just so (giggle giggle) curious! I've never ever seen anything like this!" she somewhat collected herself and looked up at the twins. She tried to pull herself out of the step but was unsuccessful.  
  
"Would you like some help?" Fred asked her. She nodded and he took her hands and pulled her out of the step. "Better?" he asked. Roxanne didn't respond but stared up at him dreamily, still holding onto his hands. She suddenly snapped back to reality, drawing her hands away,  
  
"Yes. Thanks so much."  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
Roxanne then hurried up the steps after Harry who was waiting for her at the top. Looking back at him after she reached the platform, she gave him a little wave. Fred waved back. After she exited the staircases to the hall that led to the Portrait Hole, George looked at his twin who still had his hand still in the air, both still standing in the middle of a staircase.  
  
"A bit odd, d'you reckon?"  
  
"Just a tad."  
  
"..You like her."  
  
"You've hit the nose."  
  
"Come on then, best to get an early start." And the twins headed up the staircase down to the portrait hole, Fred in a significantly noticeable very good mood.  
  
**you know the drill, RR and be my hero! 


	3. Have We Met?

**I don't own Harry Potter and that's sad.  
  
-Have We Met?-  
  
Roxanne entered into the common room very cautiously. Harry had already left to go up to his dormitory, leaving Roxanne standing alone while she stared at the room. She decided that 'cozy' was the best word to describe it as. The circular room seemed enclosing yet very large with a high ceiling. The walls were painted in a warm red and the shadow of the fire danced warmly on the wall. Large comfortable chairs encircled the room along with a table or two. There were two entrances to the upper rooms, the opening on the left for the boys and the right for the girls. In between the two openings was a bulletin board where Fred and George had just pinned something up, the top of which reading 'Gallons of Galleons!'.  
  
Roxanne stood rather awkwardly in the center of the room, looking at all of her fellow students as they slowly advanced to their dormitories. She looked at the fire, back to the doors to the dormitories. George and Lee exited, followed by a flock of first years who had just caught a glance at the poster the twins had just pinned up.  
  
"Have we met before?" Fred asked from behind Roxanne who jumped slightly before turning around. She didn't speak for a moment but stared at him. "...Something wrong?"  
  
"What? Oh, no. Just startled. No I don't believe we've met. But I've known you for quite some time."  
  
"Really? Enlighten me." Fred motioned to the closest sofa and the two sat. Roxanne proceeded to explain her history to Fred in one very long run- on sentence.  
  
"So you're to be living with us over holiday?"  
  
"You've got it, Fred." Roxanne began to shake a little; she was yet to change out of her wet clothes.  
  
"Poor thing, you'll catch cold and it'll be my fault. I wouldn't be able to stand the guilt. Please allow me to detain you no longer." He gave her a charming smile as he stood and offered her his hand to help her stand, although standing up from a couch was not a difficult task in the least. She smiled back at him, a little less dreamily and a little more flirty  
  
"Why thank you for your consideration, dear Frederick. I bid you goodnight." Fred exited to his dormitory and Roxanne was about to do the same when a stern voice called her from across the room,  
  
"Ms. Potter. Come here please." Roxanne pivoted to the right, toward yet another entrance; this one to Professor McGonagall's office, where her voice was coming from,  
  
"Yes ma'am?" she asked from across the room  
  
"My office please." Roxanne hesitantly walked across the room and entered her Head-of-House's office.  
  
"What is it, ma'am?" Professor McGonagall sat at her desk.  
  
"Just a briefing, Potter. A letter recently arrived for you along with a broomstick which is up in your dormitory." The Professor handed Roxanne a letter across the desk,  
  
"Your schedule will arrive in the morning at breakfast; we tried to put in all of your requests but considering that your arrival was unexpected I cannot guarantee you that you will receive all of your desired classes." She stood up and exited the office, Roxanne followed after as the Professor began to climb up the stairs,  
  
"A set of the textbooks that you need is in your dormitory along with your trunk and your owl. There is an amount of spending money there as well and your uniforms and house robes. According to the measurements that were sent ahead of time it should all fit.  
  
"Your guardian already signed your permission form to visit Hogsmeade with the other students. And although you have not attended Hogwarts for the past four years you are still required to take the O.W.L.s and so I expect that you have much catching up to do. I'm sure all of the Professors will be willing to giving you a few private lessons if you should so need it.  
  
"If you have a problem, please come to me and I will see what I can arrange." They arrived on the fifth platform and Professor McGonagall stopped talking and Roxanne assumed she was finished,  
  
"Thank you very much Professor. I'll be sure to do my best."  
  
The Professor nodded her head and then walked back down the steps. Roxanne opened the door and spoke to herself,  
  
"Lord that was an earful."  
  
**RR! PLEASE GOD RR!!! Make my day brighter, pleeease 


	4. The First Escapade

**HP is not mine. It's JK's. I can only dream.  
  
-The First Escapade-  
  
Upon entering the fifth year room, Roxanne stared at her bed in amazement. It was perfect. The bed was a four post made with dark-stained oak and had crimson red curtains hanging down from the bed. The pillows alternated in golds and reds. The comforter was gold and the sheets were the same color as the red pillows. Roxanne's trunk sat at the foot of her bed. On top of the trunk lay many bundles wrapped in cardboard paper. She picked up the first bundle and discovered four medium-length gray skirts, four gray v- neck sweaters with the v of the neck lined in red and gold and adorned with the crest of the Gryffindor house on the left breast, four pairs of gray knee-high socks, four white oxford shirts, and two red and gold stripped ties. Roxanne was all too giddy and laid each set of clothing out on her bed. In the next bundle there was one red and gold stripped scarf, three black work robes also adorned with the Gryffindor house crest, one black cape, and one pair of midnight blue dress robes. Two sets of pajamas were in the next bundle she opened up. The next had her broomstick, a moontrimmer, which she petted adoringly. A coin purse sat below all of the bundles with enough spending money to last her for the rest of the year. At the foot of her trunk sat two pairs of black mary-janes and a rather unpleasantly large pile of textbooks. Her barn owl sat in his cage near the window. Hearing him hoot, Roxanne walked over and opened up his cage, gently petting the back of his head,  
  
"Hello Romulus. Have a nice trip?"  
  
Romulus hooted affectionately.  
  
"Well that's great. Now you go on out there and have a little fun and once you're done you can go up and rest in the owlery and make some new friends okay?" Roxanne began to stroke his beak and then significantly lowered her voice, "You and me, Romulus, we're just alike. We've got to start again here. We can do it." She smiled weakly and then opened the window and watched Romulus fly out.  
  
Roxanne had walked back to the foot of her bed and opened her trunk, which already had personal belongings and other muggle clothing inside, and took out a very worn, stuffed, brown bunny and placed it on her bed. She then moved her socks into her trunk and walked to the bureau opposite of her bed. She picked up a few hangers and hung up her clothes in the bureau, smiling. She then changed out of her jeans and tee-shirt into her new pajamas.  
  
Roxanne walked back to her bed and belly flopped on it, mussing the sheets up significantly. After a rare moment that lacked movement, she took out the letter Professor McGonagall had given her and turned onto her back, opened the letter and began to read it to herself,  
  
Roxanne,  
Welcome to our family! Mrs. Weasly and I are so very happy to  
have you with us now. Your father was a wonderful man and when  
you are old enough there is much more for you to know about him.  
On to happier matters, eh? We all look forward to having you at  
the Burrow this summer, Charlie and Bill will be joining us for  
some time - do you have any interest in dragons? Your father  
seemed to love to brag about your handle of magical creatures.  
Anyway! If you have any questions or concerns please write to me  
or Mrs. Weasly, or ask any of the boys or Ginny; we're all more  
than willing to help you. Wishing you the best and a wonderful  
year,  
Mr. Weasley  
  
Roxanne held the parchment to her chest and hugged it, smiling warmly. She then folded it back up and hid it under her mattress. She was about to walk back downstairs when she was confronted by Hermione  
  
"McGonagall just called bedtime; you've got to stay up here until morning."  
  
"I just wanted to say goodnight to Harry."  
  
"Nope, sorry. Rules are rules."  
  
"More like guidelines I'd say."  
  
The two girls glared at one another. Roxanne took a few steps back to her bed, grabbed a brush out of her trunk and began to unbraid her hair. At that point Roxanne's head disappeared under a mess of hair and she began a long brushing process.  
  
"Wow, you really are related to Harry, aren't you?"  
  
Hermione said with raised eyebrows. Although it couldn't be seen from under her hair, Roxanne glared at her.  
  
"Why did you transfer here anyway?"  
  
Roxanne waited for a long moment before answering, weighting out the pros and cons of telling her and not telling her.  
  
"I had a tutor who was retired from working here. After father died, he got an owl that I read that she wouldn't be able to teach anymore. And almost immediately another owl arrived from Professor Dumbledore saying that I was invited to attend Hogwarts. And before I knew it my trunk seemed to pack itself and the Knight Bus was there to take me to my guardians' home.but I didn't know who they were until I got there."  
  
"So the Weasley's didn't know they were you guardians?"  
  
Roxanne shook her head,  
  
"I didn't even know they were until I arrived there this morning. Everyone else had already left by the time that the Knight Bus got me to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was the only one home and she used some flu powder to get me to the ministry and then we went and looked for Mr. Weasley but we couldn't find him so we had to find another way there and so we thought 'easy explanation - Knight Bus!' And so I went on it again but it only left me at the gates and so I had to trudge all the entrance in all that rain and-"  
  
"Yes, I know the rest."  
  
By this time Roxanne's hair had been toned down as much as it seemed that it would and she began to turn down her bed.  
  
"Anything else you'd like to ask before I turn in?"  
  
The attitude in her voice was rather obvious. Hermione, as always, had another question, expecting another complete answer,  
  
"What exactly do you think you're safe from at Hogwarts?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"What do you mean, you don't know?!"  
  
"I," Roxanne pointed to herself, "don't," she waved her hands in front of her face, "know," she pointed to her head. "Now. If you'll so kindly shut your trap I would like to get some sleep. It's been a long day."  
  
And with that, Roxanne pulled the curtains to her bed down and disappeared within them leaving a dumbfounded Hermione.  
  
Hours later, after she was sure the other girls in the room were asleep, Roxanne began to cry while hugging her stuffed bunny as if someone was trying to pry it from her arms. In the dark, alone, she got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to retrieve some tissues, but as she passed the doorway to the stairs, she heard the voices of two whispering boys.  
  
"Where's Lee?" one voice asked,  
  
"The git won't wake up and hits you when you try to." The other replied  
  
"We'll just have to do this without him then," said the first.  
  
"Hello?" Roxanne whispered, sticking her head out the doorway after silently opening the door. The Weasley twins, in their pajamas, froze for a moment and then hid whatever they held in their hands behind their backs and smiled with a suspicious innocence. Roxanne stepped into the hallway, hoping the darkness would hide her face, red and warm from recent tears. "What are you doing?"  
  
"What are you doing, Ms. Potter?" Fred asked with an emphasis on the 'you.'  
  
"I asked first."  
  
"Testing." George said quickly, Fred nodding affirmatively. There was a moment of odd silence, before Roxanne asked a second question,  
  
"Testing what?"  
  
"Nothing." They both replied  
  
"Oh?" Roxanne said, trying to look behind them. They both turned, synchronized, with their backs now to the wall. "'Nothing' certainly looks rather bulky. Last I checked 'nothing' was the equivalent of thin air. So it wouldn't matter if I was to pull your arm away." Roxanne reached for George's arms and was about to pull them from his back when Fred managed to gain a free hand and put his hand on her shoulder,  
  
"Roxy darling you wouldn't."  
  
"I might. What is it?"  
  
Neither Fred nor George responded  
  
"Pranks?"  
  
"Yes." They both sighed.  
  
"Can I help?" she asked without missing a beat.  
  
Fred smiled happily; this girl was into mischief and was already earning herself brownie points with him. Fred looked at George and George nodded, Fred then nodded to Roxanne,  
  
"Certainly."  
  
Very quietly they snuck down the steps. On the last step Roxanne tripped and plummeted to the floor, but Fred caught her before she could accidentally cause such a noise. She mouthed 'sorry' as he helped her back up to her feet.  
  
Although she offered to help, the twins had the operation very well planned for two, obviously planning ahead for Lee's desire to sleep rather than set pranks. The two boys scurried across the common room, planting their tricks here, and enchanting cushions there. Roxanne held various items and objects until a twin passed her by and grabbed it out of her arms. While they ran around the room, she played a game in her head of tracking which one was George and which one was Fred. She was surprisingly skilled in identifying which one was which.  
  
~*~  
  
Ron lay upstairs, tossing and turning in his bed. He could not remember, for the life of him, whether or not he had extinguished the fire in the common room before going to bed. Neither could he remember whether or not he was supposed to. He wasn't sure if the fire was magical or not, even though it was very likely magical, and he surely didn't want the school to burn down. He finally decided to go down and check.  
  
Fred and George had just finished and walked up to Roxanne, still whispering,  
  
"Bang up job"  
  
"I think that was George" she thought  
  
"Yes thanks for your help."  
  
This twin gave her a sly look, it was defiantly Fred. She smiled playfully at him, hoping that he could see her face in the dark.  
  
"Can't wait until I can pay you back."  
  
They made eye contact and Fred had a definite sparkle in his eyes. Unfortunately for them, a voice in a regular volume interrupted the whispered words,  
  
"What's going on? Fred, George?"  
  
Ron looked like a mix of horrified and upset as he pointed at Roxanne  
  
"And dragging her in with you before school's even begun?"  
  
The three looked at Ron, Roxanne especially not sure of what to do. Fred leaned over and whispered in her ear,  
  
"Run."  
  
And like a rabbit, she made a mad dash up to the girls' dormitory. Fortunately for her, boys weren't allowed up there, not even Prefects, and Hermione was still asleep. She quietly shut the door after making it to the fifth year room and then dived into her bed as if her covers were her only protection, although she wished it was Fred, rather than the sheets, around her.  
  
**RR, be my hero! Whoooo hooray for dialogue! Or a lack of hooray? You tell me! 


	5. Long Mornings

**did anyone here ever notice that K comes right after J? .yeah, anyway, JK owns Harry Potter, all five of 'em and the upcoming two more, not me. I just like to pretend..  
  
-Long Mornings-  
  
After the incident in the earlier hours, Roxanne could not bring herself to sleep very much, thinking about a particular red-headed boy. She got dressed in the school uniform before the sun rose, unwillingly putting her robes on above her uniform, it was just a bit warm outdoors. She brushed her teeth and her hair and then grabbed two ribbons and stuffed them into a pocket. She put her textbooks into her messenger bag along with a few scrolls and quills and ink from her trunk, hoping that she wouldn't find herself with a cauldron to drag around until she had her potions class.  
  
As the sun began to rise Roxanne heard Hermione stir and quickly ran out the door with her bag; as she learned last night, a prefect in the early morning is not a pleasant thing. After Roxanne arrived in the common room she looked around for a safe place to sit, unsure of exactly what had been bobby-trapped with some sort of prank, courtesy of Fred and George. She finally chose the floor next to the long-extinguished fire. Taking the ribbons out of her pocket, she began to tame her hair into the same two braids she had the night prior. Halfway through the second braid, the fire lit up and the head of Sirius Black appeared in the hearth.  
  
"H-Hello Sirius." Roxanne stammered, very surprised at his sudden appearance  
  
"Hello Roxanne." Sirius replied brightly. "Just checking up on you. Arthur said you were already here but just wanted to make sure. Remind Harry to write to me, would you? And we'll try to meet up at Hogsmeade; uh, why, morning Remus." Another head popped into the fire along with Sirius' "Well good speaking with you Roxy, have a great day."  
  
He smiled as the fire extinguished and at that moment Harry walked into the room, still in his pajamas. Roxanne could see him from the angle she sat at but Harry could not see her in return.  
  
"Morning Harry."  
  
She said. For a brief moment, Harry thought that the chair was speaking to him. Roxanne stood up and Harry immediately identified her, noticing her hair was similar to his and smiled slightly,  
  
"Morning."  
  
She looked to her half braided hair and quickly finished the weave, tying it off with the ribbon. The two shared a brief laugh as they looked at each other's hair; even in the braids, Roxanne's hair seemed to find ways to keep messy. This moment was quickly broken by Ron who came walking down the steps. He gave Roxanne a slight glare and then, with a grunt, motioned to Harry to come back upstairs. Roxanne waved at Harry and watched him walk back upstairs. Turning to the window, she watched the sun begin to rise. Content with watching it, she did so until the rest of the house had made their ways downstairs and began to exit to the Great Hall. Finally looking away from the window, she noticed the time and quickly rushed out of the nearly empty common room and to the Great Hall.  
  
~*~  
  
While in the Great Hall, Roxanne sat in-between Harry and Ginny while trying to avoid cold looks from both Hermione and Ron. Neither of them seemed at all fond of her now, she just hoped that they loved their house too much to take points from it. Romulus whizzed by Roxanne's head and had to double back to drop the envelope on her. Picking it up, she opened it: it was her schedule. She mumbled to herself and Ginny looked over her shoulder.  
  
"History of Magic, no problem. Charms with the seventh years - wonderful. A private Potions lesson and then Defense Against the Dark Arts." She took a double take on the scroll and her face seemed to crumble, "I guess I'm farther behind in Potions then I thought." Ginny patted her back,  
  
"Snape's not that bad."  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stopped eating and looked at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
The three continued to stare.  
  
"He's really not you just have to not talk and get an O in practically everything." she began to slow down in her speech and make a face, "and be a Slytherin.you're right, he's terrible. Best of luck Roxanne."  
  
"Thanks." Roxanne said to Ginny with disappointment obvious in her voice. Ginny took this moment to leave, along with the majority of the other fourth years; they all had the Care of Magical Creatures that morning. And not much longer after, the Great Hall began to clear out as students walked to their morning classes.  
  
~*~  
  
History of Magic seemed to never end. The dull voice of Professor Binns caused Roxanne's eyes to slowly close. She would nearly nod off before she would hear Ron, who she sat beside, say "ow!" as Hermione elbowed him to sit up and listen.  
  
"Hermione," Roxanne thought, "must not be human; either that or on drugs."  
  
Roxanne then proceeded to draw a large quaffle in the lower corner of her parchment, paying very vague attention to the lesson on the Goblin Wars. The ninety minutes finally passed and the entire class seemed to run out of the room, relieved to be in the hallway. Roxanne's mood perked up upon the realization that she should get to see Fred in the next period.  
  
"G'bye Harry, Ron, Hermione. Uh, have fun in potions."  
  
Roxanne didn't even notice the glare of Hermione as she happily skipped in the opposite direction. Slightly blinded by her happiness, Roxanne had not seen Professor Snape begin to sharply turn the corner at the end of the corridor. She ran into him and fell backward, dropping her bag; her textbooks and parchments and quills had fallen out and scattered themselves across the floor. But Roxanne paid no attention to this as she looked up at Professor Snape, wide-eyed with some slight fear. The Professor returned her look with a glare that he reserved only for those whom he was not fond of in the least. After a short, silent moment, Roxanne regained her ability to speak,  
  
"S-sorry sir. I didn't mean to - "  
  
"It would be in your best interests, Ms.."  
  
"P-Potter sir."  
  
"Ms. Potter, to walk down the corridors to avoid incidents like this. Five points from," he looked at the emblem on her robes and then smiled slightly, "Gryffindor."  
  
He then continued to hurry down the hall, leaving a dumbfounded Roxanne. She sat on the ground for a moment before her anger kicked in. She began to shove her scattered textbooks, quills, and parchments into her bag and then made her way to Professor Flitwick's classroom in a huff.  
  
**RR please. Much love to those who are! This chapter might be re-worked sometimes this week when I get around to writing chapter six..I have to go vacuum or something and my creative process has been far to rushed ::overdramatic pose and sigh:: aaaaaandscene! 


	6. Feather Pillows

**JKR and her genius own HP 1-5(+ 6 and 7), and I am humbled that I can write about it  
  
-Feather Pillows-  
  
"Sorry I'm late, Professor." Roxanne said entering in to the Charms classroom two minutes late, slightly out of breath. She looked up at Professor Flitwick where he stood on top of his desk, "I tripped and it took a moment to collect my things."  
  
"Ah. Perfectly understandable on your first day, Miss Potter. Please take a seat."  
  
Roxanne looked around the room. The two seats beside Fred in the second row were, unfortunately, already occupied by George and Lee. Nor was there a seat behind her crush. But as luck would strike, there remained a seat below him, in between two Ravenclaw boys. As Roxanne made her way to the vacant spot, Fred lost interest in passing a note between himself, George, and Lee.  
  
Although Fred and his brother were often referred to as mischief masterminds, they had a softer side that was just as charming, but no one had seen (except possibly Mrs. Weasley when she held something that the boys wanted desperately). Fred dated Katie Bell in their third year until they got into a large argument two days into their relationship about the positives and negatives of practical joking. They broke up no more than an hour later and this greatly affected their civility during Quidditch practice. After Oliver had been hit by both bludgers as Katie Sloth Grip Rolled out of the way, he created a new rule: no dating team members because it affected the level of good play on the pitch.  
  
That aside, Fred had not taken any girl to much liking for a long while and was not about to waste this opportunity.  
  
"Now today, young minds," Professor Flitwick began his lesson, "to begin the year, I thought it would be best to review what we did prior to the end of last semester. Does anyone remember?" There was a quiet rustling as students looked through their notes. A girl raised her hand and politely answered,  
  
"Combination Charms, Professor."  
  
"Specifically?"  
  
"Combination Flight Charms, Professor." She replied again.  
  
"Good. Very Good. Now if you all do remember."  
  
Roxanne twirled her wand subconsciously and Professor Flitwick's voice trailed off in her head, replaced by song she had heard a few day's prior. Fred seemed to no longer hear Professor Flitwick as well as he gazed down at Roxanne slightly, his eyebrows narrowed a bit as he tried to think of what to do. As an idea came to him, he smiled and picked up his wand. He poked her on her left shoulder and leaned quickly toward George who was to his right. Roxanne turned and looked at Lee, who didn't look up from what he was writing. She gave him a suspicious look that he did not see and turned back to face forward. Fred, soon after, poked her right shoulder with his wand and leaned toward Lee. Roxanne turned, finding herself looking at George who, fully aware of Fred's purpose, pointed at Fred. Fred leaned toward George, now in Roxanne's view, and mouthed,  
  
"It was him!" as he pointed back at George. Roxanne giggled quietly but quickly stopped as Professor Flitwick's voice popped back into her head,  
  
"Wands up! Now remember-"  
  
"Swish and Flick" the class, minus Roxanne and Fred, repeated routinely; Roxanne and Fred did repeat the words but did so a noticeable few seconds after the rest of the class.  
  
"Ready? And, aimed at your feathers, Wingardium Leviosa!" The class did as instructed and everyone quickly had their feathers hovering in the air. "Now. True, that Wingardium Leviosa allows your wand to control some movement in the air, it is very difficult to move at all, and hence why we have combination charms! Now, keeping your wand pointed at your feathers, cast Mobilarbus, like this." Doing as he instructed himself, Professor Flitwick kept his wand pointed at the feather and shouted loudly in his meek voice, "Mobilarbus!" and was able to move his feather around very quickly to wherever he pleased. "Now the rest of you! Go on, go on!"  
  
Biting her lip just slightly as she thought about the spell, Roxanne cautiously said "Mobilarbus!" as did the rest of the class and feathers soon raced around the room. There were sword fighting feathers and feathers that were writing on their own, feathers that danced, feathers that tickled noses, and one particular feather that managed to weasel into one of Roxanne's braids and began to float upward. Roxanne screamed and laughed and pulled the feather out of her hair. She turned and smiled at Fred who was looking the other way and whistling with his wand behind his back. She turned around and sat and Fred flew his feather back into action. This time, instead of tickling Roxanne's neck, he accidentally tickled the neck of the boy on her left. He turned and smiled slyly and Fred, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Fred seemed to lean back a bit with a surprised and confused look on his face and he shook his head,  
  
"Sorry, _really_ didn't mean to do that." The boy shrugged and looked vaguely disappointed and turned back around. Fred shook his head as if trying to shake the thoughts from his mind and went back to flirting with Roxanne. His feather was about to nose-dive Roxanne when Professor Flitwick called out,  
  
"Wands down!" and all of the feathers almost immediately dropped. The Professor clapped happily, "Wonderful, wonderful. Onto bigger things! If everyone would please help themselves to a pillow behind their desk, and then begin the lesson again." Everyone's pillow soon sat on their desks and Professor Flitwick called out "Wands up!"  
  
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The class exclaimed, quickly followed by, "Mobilarbus!" The air was quickly thick with the bulky feather pillows.  
  
"Splendid! Now toss them around a bit, see what you can do!"  
  
Moments later, the back of Roxanne's head was nailed by a zooming pillow. Caught by surprise, she fell forward onto her desk. Before she even stood up again, her pillow made contact with Fred. Fred went to hit Roxanne again but she used her pillow to hit his away, consequently hitting George. George, only stunned for a moment, flew his pillow to hit Fred, who ducked, and George's pillow hit Lee. Lee went to hit George back but George knocked Lee's pillow down to the boy on Roxanne's other side. ((i.e. not the boy who sorta attempted to pick up Fred)) He had set his pillow down long ago and was working on writing something and was flustered by this sudden attack of fluff. He glared up at George who motioned his pillow back to him and then casually smiled. The boy huffed and turned and continued to work and then there was a period of silence between Fred, George, Lee, and Roxanne. It was broken quickly after as all four began to bomb the others with pillows. Roxanne was the first to grab hers out of the air and hit Fred with it but couldn't bring it down to hit him. It turned out to be Fred's pillow instead of her own and he soon had her flying through the air.  
  
Unfortunately, pillows are not the sturdiest of things. And after one lap around the classroom, it ripped apart and Roxanne fell down a good six feet onto Fred's desk and feathers fell around her. There was another silence between the four, and the rest of the classroom for that matter. Roxanne began to laugh a little, moaning a little as well.  
  
"That hurt!" She exclaimed, hitting Fred playfully on the shoulder. He leaned back in his chair and laughed some himself. The bell sounded.  
  
"Lunch!" George exclaimed as he and the rest of the class filtered out. Fred stood up,  
  
"Can you stand?"  
  
"Yeah!" She said as she went to sit up and roll of the table. She landed on her feet and fell back down again. "Ow.okay, apparently not." She said through laughter.  
  
"Mr. Weasley, if you would assist her I would be much obliged." Professor Flitwick said as he headed toward the door to his office.  
  
"Certainly Professor, not a problem." Fred said casually as he picked up his bag and Roxanne's back, and then Roxanne herself and left the room.  
  
**Much love to all those who review and love to those who read - hey, why not review? Like it, hate it? Want to gut me and hang me on a wall for writing it? Lemme know, kay? ^_~ 


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